Fort Worth weekly gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1887-12-30
CHINESE MARRIAGES.
Symbolic Traces OF tho Ancient Wedlo,
by Forcs still ExtRnt.
Rlaekwood's Magazine.


| by Forcs Still Extsnt.
Blaekwood's Magazine.
\ Chinese groom always sends con-
pany Of men for his bride, and very con
monty ct night, IS though 20 make Ii;
assault easier and 8 rescue more die.
cult, SIS used TO be the case in SWede,
where marriages were commonly Gels
GRATED az night and under the protectir
Of armed men. But az toe foundation n
the Chinese marriage code is the Ia,
which forbids man 10 marrY bride ~
the same surname IS himself. Is ess,
surname is supposed to Yepressr
clSn, this lSw of exogamy p0irs
backwards to time when even n.
ceremonial Chinamsn captured his brI3s
from foreign tribe, as possibly the e7.
istence Of aifemsle iDfsnticide msy h.,
reflection Of time when the C1i9e..
found their daughters objects Of stse{
and their sons sources CT strength. ri,
8 suggestive fact also, that the SvrDb0l
representing the word Sing ".riee
clan, or surname"-is composed OF two
parts, which mean :'oorn OF z woman II
This plainly has reference TO I tine be-
fore the institution of msrfisgs, Wien.
on account Of pr0miscaitY o. inter.
course or OF the custom Of plI7-
sndry, ktnship Vas reCE0led
through the females, and not through The
msles. Another feature among tue Csi-
nese, which may possibly point to 9 poi
yandrus origin, is the fact that, SIS among
the Tamul and Telugu people of South
ern India, paternai uucles are usuauJ
called fathers, the eldest being Plhfu o,
Tafu, "eldess father or "great father,n
and the younger ShuDiu, or 'youngg
father" But 5 i'll further piece OF eyi-
dence is furnished by the Circumstance
that cousins sre called T'aue hiuGg-ti, Or
"home brothers," showing tnst the sen,
OF brothers were az one time reckOned IS
brothers to each other.
As, however, orthodox Chinese histOH
begins at period when the rites Of m4E.
riage we're IN full force, it is Only by these
faint echoes of still earlier period tls;
we can trace back th3 Iituslistic China
man 10 the level Of less civilized races.
But even in Chinese history we find refer
ences to ancient sages whose mothers
names only were recognized, then
fathers being unknown even to
tradition. In this difficulty tla
annalists have had resort 10 the deus
sx machins, commonly produced 70
explain any fact unintelhgibl9 to them,
and tell US that to miracle must be
asCribed the event which has dropped out
of history. Thus Fdn-he q. c. 1852
2737), the legendary founder of Chimes
civilization, is said to have been con
ceived in Consequence of his mo "a
treading in the foOtstep Of a god WyI
wandering on an island IN Westsn
river. But it WAS 57 this fstherlea
Fun-he that the marriage rite Tii
according to tradition, first institu.
ted; and the light in which it wss 81
GENTLY regarded may be gathered from
the symbols which at an early period
were adopted to express the words signl'
Tying s'tO marry" IS applied respectively
to the marriage of the man ard of tie
woman. The nan is said to Ts'ahs
bride-that Is TO say, in accordance viii
the gloss put on the expression by ths
symbol, "tO seize on the Woman;" whll
the lady is said 10 kis, or "Woman TIE
household" OF her husband.